| Summary : A Norman motte and bailey castle, built soon after 1071, and re-fortified in 1174. The motte is separated from the bailey by a deep ditch. The motte is 4 metres high, 20 metres in diameter at the base and 11 metres in diameter on the summit. The bailey, surrounded by a ditch, encloses about 1 acre. The motte and bailey and associated features are visible as earthworks on historic and recent air photos and lidar-derived images. |
More information : (SE410750) Maiden Bower (NAT) Motte and Bailey (NR). (1)
Topcliffe, Maiden Bower. A typical Norman motte and bailey castle erected soon after 1071 and re-fortified in 1174 during the Mowbray rebellion. The motte, which rises to about 45 feet above the low lying land between the two rivers, has a present summit diameter of about 27 feet. The bailey, horse-shoe shaped and enclosing about 1acre, lies to the west and is separated from the motte by a deep ditch. The bailey is surrounded by a ditch and counter-scarp, all in a good state of preservation. (2)
"Maiden Bower", a motte and bailey built on top of a scarped natural spur between the confluence of the River Swale and Cod Beck. The motte is about 4.0m high and about 20.0m diameter across the base and 11.0m diameter across the flattened summit. It has been terraced to form a spiralling access to the summit but this is most probably due to modern "landscaping" and the original approach has probably been from the SW. The natural spur at the base of the motte in the E has been scarped and was possibly utilised as a protective hornwork.
The spur has been excavated to form a moat separating the motte from the horse-shoe shaped bailey on its W side. The bailey measures about 65.0m NW/SE by about 85.0m NE/SW and the remains of a ditch can be seen around its NW side with a much eroded rampart on its inner edge. This ditch appears to have terminated on the NE and S, before reaching the motte, where the natural slopes of the spur have been emphasised by scarping and there is no trace of an outer scarp.
(See GP from the NW).
Published survey (25") Revised. (3)
Visible on RAF APs. (4)
No change to report of 29-MAY-1974. Survey revised and transferred to 1:2,500 MSD. (5)
SE 4085 7511. Maiden Bower and Cock Lodge: a motte and bailey castle, moated site, windmill mound and associated linear outwork. Scheduled RSM No 20530/01. (6)
Listed by Cathcart King (7)
The motte and bailey and later spiral path that leads up and around the motte are visible as earthwork on air photos. Also visible are two broad ditches running south and north-west from the bailey ditch. A bank lies to the side of the latter. The bailey interior and surroundings are overlain with ridge and furrow (see UID 1514669). The motte and bailey and associated features are visible as earthworks on historic and 2007 oblique air photos and 2003 lidar-derived images (8-10) |